On February 18th, the sun and moon will rise in Aquarius and set in Pisces—for half of the US anyway. At 5:47 pm CST, the moon and sun will meet at 29 Aquarius 59. By 5:48, the moon will enter Pisces and before 5:49, the sun will. I think this is as cuspy a new moon as is possible.

I chose to cast a chart for that tiny moment between the new moon in Aquarius, and the moon’s ingress into Pisces. It shows that, technically speaking, this is our second new moon in Aquarius—not our first new moon in Pisces. [The next new moon is a solar eclipse that occurs one hour before the equinox. Whoa Nelly!]

The angles of this chart are almost precisely the same as my natal chart. I have a feeling that some of y’all will experience a bit of the emotional roller coaster I’ve been on.

Take, for example, Icarus at 25o Aquarius and less than 2o above the western horizon. Y’all know the story about the overly ambitious boy who flew too close to the sun and then paid the price when he crashed down to earth. I so wanted to write about that last weekend. I noticed it too late (and was falling from the sky at time). The fact that Icarus is setting in this chart tells me to write about it now. (And hopefully the worst of that is over.)

Let me share with you that chart from last week. It so stunned me, I stared at it agape for minutes. I cannot tell you how precisely it described my exact experience!

On Saturday, 2/7/2015 @ 7:00 am CST, Icarus reached the sun at 18 Aquarius 25. [My DSC is 17 Aquarius 47, by the way.] They both opposed Jupiter at that time…nearly exact. AND Nessus, in that very same moment, ingressed 0 Pisces 0.

Icarus, no surprise here, describes peak experiences. Like the tippity top of a mountain, it’s all down hill from there. Aquarius, ruler of the 11th house, holds our hopes, dreams, aspirations, and goals.

Moments after this chart, the moon entered Libra where she feels compelled by justice and fairness. It’s what she wants, and she gets upset when it doesn’t happen.

Incidentally, the Mars shown here was exactly…to the arc minute…opposite my natal Pluto. Personal transits like that are energizing and explosive.

When you put all of these pieces together, you get an emotional rollercoaster to the highest extreme. One minute, you find your fingertips brushing the outer edge of a long held desire. The next moment, you see it stolen away unjustly. You crash; you burn; you rage; you throw your hands up…ready to quit even trying; and then you’re depressed. Oh…and by the way…lather, rinse, and repeat.

The Aquari-Pisces new moon chart holds a lot of that vibe, but less so. Icarus is setting. The further from the sun he gets, the less he burns.

However, the moon first, and later the sun will walk the full 30 degrees of Pisces. And look at the stockpile there! On 2/18, the entire span is covered from Nessus at 0o to Mars at 29o. The water bearer has been carrying an urn of water filled to the very brim. In fact, water had been flowing into that urn the whole time he’s been carrying it.

Half way between the one chart and the other, Mercury stopped regressing and initiated his second forward march through nearly all of Aquarius. Despite the ups and downs I experienced, I could clearly feel the different once Mercury pulled his one-eighty. During the upswings, things are now completing, and during the downswings, I’m not having to fix and redo everything.

Fitting for Pisces, Mercury will be going forward through old territory—a salmon swimming up stream, driven to traverse (transcend?) familiar waves.

For what it’s worth, I think the month of Pisces will be productive—not exactly easy, but productive. Consider it pre-spring-cleaning. Even y’all buried in snow in the Northeast, you can always work on your inside closets. Don’t forget: snow is water. You’re not swimming in it, but you’re inundated by it.

Before I finish, I want to point out one more asteroid shooting through the waters of Pisces. Tantalus is moving quickly. On 2/7, she was at 1o Pisces. On 2/18, she’ll already reach 12o. Tantalus teases us mercilessly. These days, we’re not merely attracted to her; we have feelings for her. Icarus flew all the way to the sun because he thought she was there. Intermittently, she tickles our wounds. We want her to heal them; we beg her.

She simply smiles impishly at our requests.

In the previous post, I wrote how Jupiter is holding back the sea. He still is. He is practically the only object on that side of the sky. I think he’s the one that keeps us from going under for too long.

If you have moments when you feel emotionally overwhelmed this next week, remind yourself that Mars is soon to escape the sea. On 2/19, he soars into his sign of rulership, Aries. Then, not a full day later, he pulls Venus out of the water with him. With that beautiful conjunction nigh, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it.

Once each year, the Earth passes directly between the two most gravitational bodies in our solar system: the sun and Jupiter. This happens today just past high noon Central Standard Time.

Given the time of the occurrence, the opposition between these massive bodies occurs along the vertical axis of the chart. In my opinion, the effects will be indirect…but pervasive. Like the noonday sun, you probably won’t look up directly at it much, but you will be well aware it is there.

When I tune into this chart, it is hard to look at any aspect individually. The chart is very connected…entangled…and complex.

For example, consider the following:

Jupiter occupies the sign ruled by the sun.

The sun occupies the sign classically ruled by Saturn.

Saturn occupies the sign ruled by Jupiter.

Venus rules the chart (given Taurus on the ascendant)…and resides in the sign classically ruled by Jupiter.

Then there’s this set of observations:

The sun is highest in the chart.

Jupiter is lowest.

Saturn sits on the descendant.

These four bodies (sun, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn)—the four brightest objects in the sky (not counting the moon)—are all significantly placed in the chart. Furthermore, the moon closely aspects the sun and Jupiter, and loosely opposes Venus. Venus’ next aspect partners include Uranus, Pluto, Chiron, and Jupiter all within the next few days.

When I take in this chart as a whole, I am reminded of Atlas, but instead of him holding up the Earth, I see him holding back the sea.

Oppositions polarize energy. There’s a bunch of it over here and a bunch of it over there. Both sides pull on us…attract our attention and desire. Being physical, temporal beings, we can’t easily focus on both sides at once.

Jupiter in Leo wants more; he wants it all; and he wants it right now.

Sun in Aquarius is interested in laying it all out in a plan: step one, then step two…

Mercury, let’s not forget him, is deep in his retrograde, saying: “Wait! You forgot about this over here and that over there.”

Meanwhile, there is a mass of emotion building in Pisces. Look: Mars, Psyche, Chiron, Venus, and Neptune! If you look close enough, you’ll notice that Nessus, a centaur asteroid, is at 29 Aquarius 58, two arc minutes from Pisces.

I, personally, feel a lot of this. It is discordant and disharmonious. I feel on the edge of something big, but that something feels like many things simultaneously.

I feel on the edge of tears.

I feel on the verge of busting out.

I feel hyper, over-caffeinated, and stuck.

I feel trepidation and impatience.

I’m afraid of what’s around the corner, but I want to get there already.

If the Universe doesn’t set me free soon, I feel as if I’ll explode.

There’s a reason I feel this so strongly. This sun-Jupiter opposition sits a mere 9 arc minutes from my exact ascendant. It is completely in my face!

And let’s not forget that this chart is only days after the full moon passed by Jupiter.

Months ago, Lilith caught and held my attention. As a result, I’m beginning to really understand her role and purpose. These days, Nessus is capturing my notice.

Lilith, Nessus, and Psyche are what I call pain points—indications of wounds. Unlike Lilith, Nessus and Psyche are real objects.

Lilith is an artifact of the Earth-moon cycle. There’s nothing there. However, when the moon joins or opposes Lilith, we have apogee or perigee respectively.

So with Lilith, we have a shadow of something else. It is not a true wound, or a direct wound, but we feel it nonetheless.

Nessus, I’m beginning to understand, is tied to an actual event. It’s like scar tissue that results from an injury. It kind of sort of doesn’t go away, but we can work on it and/or work around it.

Nessus, in this chart, is straight up, geometrically. It is almost exactly 90 degrees from the horizon. When you live in a body made of flesh, it is inevitable that you will get wounded at some point. Some wounds heal, and others stick around until we trade one body in for another.

If you look at the three pain points, notice that they are loosely opposing each other: primarily in Virgo-Pisces. Also consider that those two signs are most aligned with pain and healing.

To conclude: today, you might be feeling the tides of the ocean pressing upon you, but you simultaneously feel strong and impatient. You’ve been carrying a weight for a long time and want nothing more than to shed it. But you’d rather not cry it out right now.

All in do time. I am not one to look too far ahead in Astrology. That’s a bit too much to bear. But I do trust the process. Aries follows Pisces, so everything traipsing through Pisces now will end up in Aries eventually. If nothing else, Aries will push it through. You can count on that!

After last month’s rather intense full moon in Cancer, some are probably wondering what this month has in store.

You may recall that last time, I didn’t write about the full moon until after the fact. It basically kicked my butt and I had to look up the chart. In response to my article, one of my readers wrote to tell me that she cried and cried that day for no apparent reason. Another described how uncomfortable she felt that day.

I expect this month’s full moon to be over the top, theatrical, and dramatic. I’m sure we’ll get some good stories out of it. The reason? This is not only a full moon in Leo, but is also conjunct Jupiter.

Rather than cast the chart for the full moon itself, I decided to cast a chart for the moon-Jupiter conjunction, which occurs six hours later. Notice that the moon and Jupiter fill up the 10th house. In fact, they are the only true objects in the sky at that time. The north node, Lilith, and the Vertex are all virtual points.

Given the full moon, we, of course, have an opposition with the sun. That opposition peeks at about 15 degrees Aquarius/Leo. Like last month, the Uranus-Pluto square aspects the moon-sun opposition again. The aspects are weaker, but still tight. Just like last month, the full moon will pull in and express (release) some of that background tension.

Notice that Chiron and Mars both aspect the sun and moon as well. Chiron is very tight with the moon-sun opposition, while Mars nearly exactly aspects the moon-Jupiter conjunction.

The full moon is Tuesday night. Mars slinks past Chiron in Pisces this Saturday. When a faster planet wizzes past a slower one, it picks up some of the slower planet’s energy. Since Mars likes to put whatever it has into action, it will help us express our Chiron—our long lasting wounds and healing. Since Mars aspects the moon-Jupiter conjunction nearly to the arc minute, it will funnel all of that Pisces feeling into Leo expressing. This is, ultimately healing, at least for the expressers. If we’re the one witnessing the show, we’ll have to do our best to keep from taking it on.

In the Austin chart for this event, Mars, Chiron, and Venus sit in the 5th house, an expressive, creative house associated with Leo—more drama, more show.

Last month, many of us felt all of the emotion. Some of us expressed it, but likely in the privacy of our own homes. This month, I expect the emoting to happen on stages big and small. We’ll likely witness the outbursts on TV and the Internet. Looking at this chart, it’s hard to imagine this full moon passing without over the top emoting all around. I guess we’ll see.

My advice to you is this: if you have a lot to say and express, let it out. No point in trying to hold back the storm. If you’re a witness to the emoting, let it fly passed you. Don’t take it on, don’t pull it in. Don’t egg it on either, just let it flow and let it go.

Jupiter has tremendous gravity. The one emoting will too. Be a moon and orbit around it, otherwise you’ll be pulled right into the eye of the storm.

But no worries if you do get pulled in. Maybe you have some expressing to do as well.

On a different note, I would like to share some star gazing opportunities with this event and another in the near future. The moon and Jupiter are conspicuous objects. On Tuesday, pray for clear skies and mild temps, because shortly after sunset, the moon and Jupiter will rise in the east side-by-side.

On the other side of the sky, I’m sure you’ve notice Venus shining brightly after sunset. Last month, she helped up spot Mercury. Next month she’ll help us spot Mars.

Today, Mars is about three or four fingers above Venus. After the sun sets and the sky dims, find Venus in the sky. Extend your arm all the way out, hold four fingers together right above Venus, and you’ll find the red man. Well each day between now and February 21st, the two will get closer and closer.

For those of you who are wondering where Saturn is, you have to wait until the early morning hours to see it above the horizon in the dark. It rises and sets about 5 hours before the sun.

Yesterday I did a Tarot reading for a woman who may have a decision to make in the near future: to stay at her current job or accept an offer that is forthcoming. The first card I pulled, front and center, was the Nine of Cups—the wish card.

The sign of Aquarius, which we are now in, is most closely associated with the 11th house in an Astrology chart. The 11th house is, in part, the house of hopes and dreams, goals and aspirations, and ideals.

In the context of the reading, the woman said to me, “I had been thinking about looking for a new job in this field for 6 months. Now this falls into my lap. Is it a sign or just a coincidence?”

The answer that came through was this:

It is neither.

If you think of the opportunity as a sign, you could place too much emphasis on it. You might feel obligated to take it. You might think of it as an omen, and thus consider it fate.

On the other hand, if you think of it as a coincidence, you will be dismissing or diminishing its value—reducing it to mere happenstance.

Think of it like so. You have been considering an experience (specifically a job) that is different than what you are currently in. The Universe responded by saying, “Well, here’s something. What do you think about this?” The Universe offered up something in reply to your query. Doesn’t mean you have to take it. Doesn’t mean it was an accident either.

How nice it would be if we simply considered all opportunities as the Universe saying, “Well, what do you think about this?”

You see, then all of the following replies would be appropriate:

“I hate it.”

“I love it.”

“Do you have that in red?”

“Well, I thought that’s what I wanted, but what I really want is <this> …”

“I don’t know. I need some time to think about it.”

“Can I try it on for a while and let you know what I think after?”

“Can I decide yes for now, but then decide again later?”

Aquarius is a fixed sign, but it is still an air sign. Ideals seem like fixed mental constructs, but they aren’t. They may change slowly, but they can and do change.

Just because you’ve prayed for something for years, doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind later.

Mercury is Retrograde in Aquarius. It is like the Universe saying, “Well, what do you think about <this>?” The <this> is different for each of us. It could be about work, career, relationship, a hobby, etc. Mercury going backward is simply giving you information you may have overlooked the first time.

Sometimes I play a game with myself. I ask myself, “What if you got everything you wanted right now?” I then monitor my emotional reaction.

You know, most of the time, I freak out a little (or a lot). I find myself saying, “I’m not ready!” or “I’m scared.” I’m starting to realize that the Universe is (and has been) ready to give me what I want. I’m the one slamming the brakes.

In the world that we live in, there are signs that say: ‘Stop’, ‘Do Not Enter’, ‘Left Turn Only’, and ‘Right Lane Must Exit’. When the Universe offers you an opportunity in response to your musing, it is not giving you a sign. It is simply saying, “What do you think about this?”

Early this morning (CST), the sun crossed over the cusp from Capricorn to Aquarius—from an earth sign that is very active, to an air sign that seeks stability. Within the same timeframe, the moon crossed the same cusp and conjoined the sun initiating a new lunar month. In less than 24 hours from now, Mercury, who nearly conjuncted Venus last week, stations retrograde.

These three events are linked in more than just time. They also occur in the same sign. They are further connected by the movement of the moon. The exact new moon occurred less than 4 hours after the sun ingressed Aquarius and the day-old moon conjuncts Mercury less than 1 hour after he stations.

Shown are two charts: one for the Aquarius New Moon, and one for Mercury Station Retrograde. Notice that in both cases, the Vertex lies in the 7th house – the house associated with the sign libra and regarding partnerships and relationships.

In both cases, a stellium of planets lies near the ascendant while Jupiter looms opposite, on the other side of the chart. Again, in both cases, Saturn sits highest in the sky.

Given the proximity of these events, the oppositions, squares, and sextiles are the same in both charts.

We clearly have a theme for this month of brotherly love.

Cusps are magical, mystically, mysterious, and somewhat disorienting—partly because abutting signs are SO VERY DIFFERENT. This cusp, however, is possibly less severe than most. With a quick glance, the signs feel similar because each is a mix of dissimilar energies. Capricorn essentially combines earth with fire. Aquarius combines earth with air.

The biggest different between these two signs are their perspective on the world/universe around them. For example, Capricorn is often described as straight and narrow—structured, responsible, and law abiding, following generally accepted norms even if they aren’t laws. Aquarian sees the world differently and follows rules of its own making.

Capricorn may take into consideration the entire globe as it seeks to build, but it tends to look no further. Aquarius, on the other hand, sees the earth as a small piece of a vast and beautiful universe.

In Capricorn, individuals must group together and work together in order to contribute to the greater good. In Aquarius, an individual is free to raise his or her own vibration in his or her own way because when he or she does, he or she naturally raises the vibration of all of humanity.

In my opinion, the cusp between these two signs is a pole reversal. Each mixes two dissimilar vibrations, but in opposite ways. The flow is thus reversed, and everything gets mixed up for a while.

So crossing the cusp, in and of itself, is a big change. But now lets add in all of the other significant pieces.

Mercury stations retrograde in Aquarius. Mercury is the most airy of planets. A station and retrograde thus has a similar vibe to fixed air. Mercury station retrograde in Aquarius (opposite Jupiter) thus multiplies the effect!

7th house is the house of partnerships, but also open enemies. Libra, where the North Node sits, is the sign of balance, laws, justice, and “rightness”. The North Node is a karmic point. It’s time for us to pay our dues.

Saturn presses upon us to be responsible adults and do the right thing. Kind of sounds like some of that Libra stuff, eh?

The 12th house is the house of Karma, cause and effect, paying one’s debts. Nessus at the very end of Aquarius can be thought of as a wound. A wound is a kind of debt. We pay back the debt through our intention to heal the wound, a process which often takes effort and attention.

In this morning’s Tarot reading, I pulled the 2 of Pentacles as an outcome card. This shows a man juggling two coins. It represents juggling (or balancing) two physical circumstances. Both sides need our energy, unless, of course, we are willing to let one side go completely.

Typically, I pull a card for each side. In this case, I pulled Justice and The Hierophant.

Justice relates to…well…justice, but also legal matters and karma. Sometimes we owe and sometimes we are due. And sometimes universal justice does not look or feel fair…partly because we don’t know our total karmic debt (or credit).

The Hierophant often relates to religion—in other words widely accepted belief. This card feels just like Saturn to me because it is confining and restricting. It can press upon us in a similar way…pushing us to follow rules and do the right thing. But it also brings to question: “What is right?”

Weighing and balancing Justice and The Hierophant is very much the cusp between Capricorn and Aquarius. Each of us has responsibilities. We live in collectives, and those collectives establish and enforce rules. And yet, rules change from place to place, and from time to time. Some of us believe a particular thing is right, while others believe the opposite is right. Wars are fought over these differences.

As you travel your own month of Aquarius, consider your relationship to the laws and rules around you. Do you have a good balance between your own rules and your acceptance of the rules around you? [Accepting rules is not the same as following them.]

Ultimately, you make all of your own decisions, whether you feel coerced or not. You can choose to rebel. In some cases, you can negotiate. For example, the Hierophant covers the rules of marriage, but you and your partner are free to make up your own.

The New Moon chart is very exposed. The sun and moon both occupy the first house. They are thus accessible to us. We see and understand what’s on our plate. Saturn is in the 10th house: again, our responsibilities are visible to everyone around us. And Jupiter in the 7th shows us, big and clear as day, who’s with us, and who’s against us.

The Mercury Station Retrograde chart is quite different. Here, the most hidden 12th house is loaded with planetary energy. Jupiter highlights that there is work yet to be done. Chiron, sitting at the end of the 12th, hints at that work. Saturn sits in the 9th house in this chart and thus indicated that we have something yet to learn.

Mercury Retrograde is all about research. When we think back to an event or experience, go over it iteratively in our mind, we are employing a Mercury Retro process. We analyze and sort through it. We discern right from wrong. Sometimes it’s clear who’s at fault. Maybe we accept our own part, but maybe we are reticent.

The month of Capricorn shifted the earth beneath my feet. Many “things” changed, and some of those changes were indeed physical. As a result, 2015 has already been a very different year.

The next four weeks will be dominated by Mercury Retrograde. Solutions are in the offing, but it may take a bit of digging to unearth them. So be it. I will align myself with the process. I’m not really in a hurry anyway.

Last night was the first significant lunar event for 2015. It carried with it the force of a full moon lunar eclipse.

The lunar nodes travel slowly backward through the Zodiac. Last night was precisely half way between the last set of eclipses and the next. That is because both the sun and the moon opposed each other nearly exactly square to the lunar nodes.

To make matters worse (from my subjective point of view) the above combined with the Pluto-Uranus Square forming a Grand Cardinal Cross like the one we experienced last April.

Furthermore, the Mars-Jupiter opposition, which is past peek, but still within orb, nearly cut the square in half adding in its two cents.

For me personally, I got slammed. Shortly after waking, I started to feel pain along my centerline between my lower neck and upper back. The pain was mild—neither stabbing nor a constant ache, yet it colored my day by resurrecting all sorts of other pains in my body.

Beneath the discomfort, I could feel a pool of emotion. It was like an echo of old grief. I couldn’t get to it, or express it, but I think if I had, I would have sobbed.

In looking at the chart, I can begin to understand.

The Pluto-Uranus Square of the past few years is a globally affecting aspect. Given that both Pluto and Uranus are distant, the aspect has been long lasting and its influence has been broad.

The luminaries interacting with the square bring all of that energy home. They bring the thoughts and emotions to the surface. Even if no personal events incited a strong reaction within us last night, we likely felt something anyway.

When the lunar nodes are involved, we have to consider the past and future.

In general, the full moon is a now event. Since we get one every month, it typically only reaches back 2 weeks, and forward the same. Come the next new moon, we reset the cycle.

The lunar nodes, however, are karmic. They ever oppose each other and can reach back lifetimes while simultaneously guiding us forward toward our ever-growing potentials.

And let’s not forget that the full moon occupied the sign it rules making it very hard to not feel. Adjectives I would use to describe some of what I felt are: insecurity, fear of the unknown, heartache, neediness, being afraid to want again for fear of getting hurt again, hopelessness.

Given that the Grand Cross was a Cardinal Cross, it was an easy night to say too much too soon. Had I seen this coming, I would have recommended not going out on a limb or making oneself vulnerable. If you pushed for something, you probably got the opposite of what you really wanted.

As is often the case, there is the other side of the chart. Even with the orb factor down to 30%, we still see positive aspects.

The subtler positive influence came from the sextile between Saturn and the almost by not quite Mercury-Venus conjunction (which is visible this week to the west after sunset if the weather permits). In my opinion, this aspect tempered the Grand Cross in such a way that, although the feelings were strong, the events were not. In other words, this Grand Cross was, for most of us, more of a sensory experience than a drama/trauma one.

The stronger positive influence comes from the wedge crated by Chiron, which sat only 35 arch-minutes from exactly aspecting the full moon opposition.

During the full moon, the Part of Fortune always sits exactly on the descendant. In the Austin chart, Chiron sat in the 6th house, the house it rules by certain measures, and was closest to the Descendant and Part of Fortune.

The pain I felt caught my attention. If it weren’t for the physical (6th house) pain, I might have missed the emotional (Pisces) pain. The physical pain is a result of the emotional. Last night’s full moon cracked the surface illuminating something that lies beneath.

The Descendant marks a poignant external position. We are shown something out there that directly relates to something in here. This is a powerful tool…if not the most powerful tool in this dualistic realm. It’s what separates dream reality from waking reality.

When I look back on the past few years, the last quarter of 2013 was the nadir. All of 2014 was a gradual climb up from that painful low point. Last night was a reminder of where I have been. Yes, it felt like regression. Yes, it felt a bit as if I was falling back into it. It even felt, for a moment, as if all of the distance traveled in 2014 was for naught, as if all of the apparent gain was an illusion.

But it wasn’t.

In some ways, last night’s full moon grand cardinal cross may simply have been the emotional unveiling of the 2015 syllabus. I think we already intellectually knew—individually and collectively—what we need to work on, so last night simply showed us in an emotional/sensory way.

Isn’t that the role of the moon?

The sun is said to represent our waking consciousness. The moon pulls on our emotions. At the full moon, we see as much of the moon as we can. It looks as large as the sun and as bright as it ever gets. It shines the entire night long.

It captivatingly catches our attention.

Think of the information attained as a planted seed. In three months, in early spring, I’m sure we’ll see signs of new growth.

At times, manifestation is as easy as one-two-three: intention, connection, creation. This year, it seems we’re being asked to take a slightly different route.

If you look back on my last post of 2014, you will see that I ended it by saying: “…celebrate the passing of another year, and then put the waxing, Capricorn energy to work for you.” In general, this is sound advice.

Take, for instance, the New Year’s Resolution. Yes, many—possibly even most—may struggle maintaining these resolutions past the end of February, but we do tend to get them started and in a big way. In early January, we are determined to turn over a new leaf. After the long break from our day-to-day lives, we are anxious to get back to it and to make it better than ever.

And this is very Capricorny. Cardinal Earth wants to move and productively so. It wants to build…and from scratch. True Capricorns are self-starters, and are good at motivating others. In many ways, they are leaders.

So let me ask this: how many of you feel frustrated right now? Energized, but without direction? Motivated, but lacking a starting point? Rearing to go, but with shackles holding you back?

Clearly, this is how I feel. The day Saturn moved into Sagittarius, I caught a cold. It hasn’t been severe, but it is taking a while to clear. I’m starting to feel a little stir crazy waiting for it to fully go away.

On top of that, look at the calendar. New Year’s Day fell on a Thursday. That means the typical back to work day (January 2nd) fell on a Friday—a poor day to start something new.

In theory, this year is a perfect year to take a long weekend to continue the holiday. But then look at what Mother Nature dished out. The whole US of A is cold right now. Unless you opted for a ski vacation, you’re probably wishing for a bit more warmth and/or sun. I know I am!

Looking at the planets, the vibe become clearer. In a nutshell, it’s not pretty up there. Yesterday, the sun exactly squared Uranus—officially entering the Uranus-Pluto Square. It will then conjunct Pluto today. On January 1, the year started with Aquarian Mars opposite Jupiter in Leo.

Squares and oppositions feel like they are good at building only two things: tension and frustration. One would have hoped that at least Saturn entering Sagittarius would have set us free in some way, but as soon as Saturn entered the sign, he began, in earnest, building toward a square with Neptune. We are clearly not out of the woods. I see examples all around me.

So, Astrologically speaking, that Capricorn initiative is not exactly free to carry us forward…at least not yet. So what may be the purpose of this? Luckily, spirit is talking and has sound advice.

At the start of this post, I described one-two-three as intention, connection, and creation. —tion words, for the most part, imply action or at least a somewhat active state of being. To me, there is radiance there. If someone across the room is within a —tion, you can feel it. Consider the following examples: meditation, elation, contemplation, frustration, inspiration, anticipation, participation, etc.

What spirit said to me the other day relates to all of these —tions, but mainly: intention.

Cardinal energy (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, and Libra) relates to the idea of projection, not the psychological concept, but rather the radiating of energy. Cardinal energy is about pushing out what is inside. With Capricorn, it is often literally the creating (or building) of something physical. The idea and desire inside then becomes something constructed outside.

This year, the Universe has its foot on our coat tails. We are guided to not rush into it. We are beseeched to be clear in our intention before stepping into action.

Intention is a tricky word to talk about. It is subtle, yet ever-present. So often, we are not intellectually clear about our intentions. We have not yet learned to be ever-aware of our intentions. Too often, we act as we have acted before without really asking ourselves why.

And sometimes it is simply impatience. We act because sitting around can be difficult.

Guidance on manifestation tells us to be clear about what, and to let go of how. If we are clear about what we want, the Universe will show us (and walk us through) the how. When we spend time thinking about how we’ll attain our goals, we can get overwhelmed, frustrated, or depressed. So forgot how for a moment, and focus on what.

But then also ask why. Don’t simply ask why you want what you want, but also ask why you do what you do. Sometimes you have to keep asking why to get to the bottom of it (to the root).

The start of 2015: the calendar, the weather, and the astrology all are in alignment pressing firmly on the pause button. An adage for right now is:

Before you jump in and try, consider why.

Look to see if you are, in fact, aligned with your intended intentions.

Intention, like meditation, is an active form of inaction. Action follows intention, and is born of it. You don’t need to be intent, you already are! Every minute of every day, you have strong intention to be something else or something more. Where we go wrong is when we lose sight of our heart-felt intentions and follow the lesser (purely intellectual) ones.

For example, we can often have a strong intention to win and a strong intention to be right. Underneath, we likely have a strong intention to feel good (or at least better), and both winning and being right do feel better. But at some point, we have to let go of a quick fix (that doesn’t last) for a more permanent solution (vibration).

Here’s another example: many of us have a strong intention to succeed, but have a hard time describing in detail what success is and how it feels.

And finally, there is this one thing I think about a lot. So many of us do A to get B. Often, we think the only way to get B is via A. Here’s some examples:

We do work to get money.

We go to the grocery store to get food.

We diet to lose weight.

We work out in a gym to strengthen our muscles.

Sometimes we simply do not want to do A, and yet we still want B.

If you really think about it, you could probably find examples of people who have B and did not do A to get there.

If you’re feeling stuck, inhibited, ornery and unwilling to do A to get B, take advantage of the time out. Find something that exists in your life seemingly for free. Use it as an example.

2015 has started officially, and continues to unfold. Today already feels different than yesterday (when I started this post).

Best wishes to a feel good, successful 2015…and abundant clarity of what success specifically means to you!